


oh there you are (i've been looking for you)

by breakfasttako



Series: NaNoWriMo 2018: Klaroline drabbles [2]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, caroline centric, not much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakfasttako/pseuds/breakfasttako
Summary: Caroline was born a fated one, which means two things:1) She has a soulmate2) She's going to die tragically young





	oh there you are (i've been looking for you)

**Author's Note:**

> Story reference notes: Caroline doesn't grow up in MF

Caroline Forbes was born October 2, 1992 at 7:30am, 7lbs and 2 oz, 18 inches long, and she came into this world screaming.

 

Liz Forbes was exhausted but it was the best moment of her life when they but her tiny baby girl into her arms. Bill had to convince her to let the nurses take the baby to be cleaned. When the nurses took her away, all of Liz’s attention remained on her baby, and she noticed before Bill or the doctor that the nurses had gone eerily quiet. 

 

When the head nurse walked over to the doctor to whisper something to him with a practiced calm, Liz snapped. “What is it?”

 

“Just something the doctor needs to take a look at,” the nurse smiled placidly directing the doctor toward Caroline. Bill took her hand.

 

After studying Baby Caroline for a moment, the doctor’s demeanor became somber. He turned to the parents.

 

“What is it?” Liz demanded once more as Bill tightened his grip around her fingers.

 

“It would seem your daughter was born with words,” the doctor informed them solemnly.

 

Everyone knew the fated died young.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

Caroline lived her life fully. Truly. She wasn’t going to leave this planet lacking experiences no matter how young. She took too many risks, swung too high, drove too fast, kissed too many boys, loved too hard, too fast, laughed too loud. She embraced it all, and her regrets were few.  She may be staring down a ticking clock, but she had promised herself from a young age she wouldn’t live her life in fear. And she certainly wasn’t going to fear the metaphorical axe hanging over her head.

 

Tracing the words that ran along the inside of her thigh, Caroline wondered if she’d meet her soulmate or death first. Would he be worth it? Would she?

 

She’d like to say it didn’t matter to her, but she’d be lying if she did. If she was going to suffer the repercussions of being a fated one, she sure as hell wanted to experience all the benefits. 

 

Existential pondering wasn’t a passtime she partook in regularly, but when she did it was usually about this topic. She’d gone down every rabbithole pertaining to being one of the oh so tragic fated ones, and the only conclusion she had come to was she didn’t want to leave this life incomplete. So far that included living her life without apology. It also included meeting her soulmate one day, but there was only so much she could do about that.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

As it turned out, Caroline would meet death first.

 

Caroline Forbes died February 17, 2012 at 4:30am, her weight none of your business, and her height read an inch taller on her driver’s license than her medical files. 

 

She was crossing the street distractedly, trying to recall the details of her one night stand. She didn’t remember drinking more than a couple wine coolers, but everything about the night was hazy. She would almost suspect he’d put something in her drink, but she felt perfectly fine, and knew she’d been perfectly functioning all night. In her distressed state she didn’t see the oncoming headlights, or hear the horn until it was too late. 

 

Caroline groaned in discomfort at the uncomfortable, hard surface she was laying on. Everything was dark, and Caroline panicked when she couldn’t get her eyes to open. Then she realized her eyes were open, she just couldn’t see. She felt around, and realized she was in a box. What the hell? She started hyperventilating. Was she dead?

 

She knocked on the sides of her box, and started kicking the top as her vision adjusted in the dark. “Help!” 

 

Suddenly, she was blinded once more, this time by light, as she was slid out of the box. 

 

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes.” Her one night stand’s, Enzo’s, voice rang out. “You need to keep quiet love. Can’t go letting people know the dead are rising here tonight.”

 

Caroline stared at him stupidly as she got her sight back. She hadn’t gotten any bad vibes off of Enzo. So much for trusting her instinct, because this was starting to feel like some serious  _ Silence of the Lambs  _ bullshit.

 

“Come on now, surely you’ve heard of vampires?” he asked. “Surprise, we’re real, and we don’t fucking sparkle.” 

 

“Okay…” Caroline blinked. “Well that’s good to know, but I think I’ll just be on my way.”

 

She sat up and tried to slide off the table, but Enzo blocked her way.

 

“Not the best idea to expose yourself to the public right now, Caroline,” he explained to her. “As a baby vampire you’re going to have some control issues. I don’t need you calling attention by going on a murder spree.”

 

“I promise I won’t go on a murder spree, just let me go,” she tried to negotiate with the delusional man in front of her.

 

“You say that now,” he shook his head, “but if I leave you alone, you’ll probably change your mind.”

 

“I won’t. No murder urges here.” she gestured to herself and then held out her pinky, “promise.”

 

Enzo ran a frustrated hand over his face. “Caroline, I need you to listen to me. I’m telling you the truth.”

 

“Sure,” Caroline nodded along. “Of course.”

 

Losing his patience, Enzo let his fangs drop and opened his mouth to flash them at her. Caroline gawked in terror taking in the dark veins under his eyes and the sharp incisors. Crippled by fear, she just sat there. 

 

Enzo retracted his fangs, “Now that I have your intention there are some things we need to talk about.”

 

Caroline, officially scared shitless, listened to every word.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

It was ironic. Caroline had spent her whole life waiting for the clock to run out, and now she had all the time in the world. She’d paid a price for it, but Caroline had known she’d have to pay her dues her since she was old enough to understand what the sharp cursive of her words destined her to. What was a change in menu compared to death? Did it even register? It probably should, but on a diet consisting of 94% blood bags Caroline wasn’t feeling much guilt.

 

She spent time traveling, sometimes dragging Enzo with her, sometimes not. Lost in Tel Aviv, skinny dipping in Ibiza, arrested for resisting arrest in New York, Caroline lived in death the same way she had in life. Today, it was a bar fight in New Orleans.

 

The city itself was brilliant. It was definitely making her list of favorites. The atmosphere had a way of keeping her enthralled with the city. The supernatural politics were highly contentious here, but Caroline found it easy enough to keep off the radar of such things so long as she kept an eye on Enzo’s more reckless feeding habits. 

 

The night had actually started out relatively tame. They fed and compelled on some obnoxious tourists in the hotel room next door to their own, and headed out with every intention of keeping things low key. They’d found a small pub, and choosen a dark corner to have a few drinks in to get the night started. The plan had been to move on soon, do a little bar hopping, only Enzo got distracted by a pretty girl, and they ended up staying.

 

He ended up ‘escorting her to the bathroom,’ as he’d told Caroline when he came over to do a shot with her. “See you in two shakes, Gorgeous.”

 

“That’s disgusting,” she told him with no real bite in her voice. 

 

Caroline sipped at her G&T and munching on the last of her french fries as she crowed watched for a bit. She was pleased to make eye contact with handsome man at the bar. A dark Henley clung to his shoulders and chest, and the wide V of the unbuttoned neckline showed off several necklaces. She met his admiring gaze, giving him an invitingly coy smile. He smiled back and got up. Her eyes lingered on his generous lips as he made his way over to her.

 

And then those generous lips opened and said the words she’d known all her life

 

_ “I was wondering if you’d ever notice me.” _

 

Her mind stopped working. Twenty-two years of looking forward to this moment, and she was paralyzed by it, taken completely by surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, anything before her shocked silence turned him away, but before she could get any words out, a group at the bar held their arms out and started chanting. Witches.

 

Suddenly, the twelve vampires, including her soulmate, in the bar were on their knees coughing up blood. Caroline watched in horror as the group of witches surrounded the bar while a few stalked toward her to form a tighter circle between she and her soulmate.

 

“Klaus Mikaelson,” one of them spoke, “King of New Orleans, the Original Hybrid on his knees. How does it feel to have the taste of your destruction on your tongue?” she asked.

 

Klaus glared as he continued to hack up blood. 

 

“You’ve terrorized the covens of this city for too long. Tonight is your end.” 

 

Unsure whether to be relieved by the sight of an ally or afraid for her friend, Caroline noticed Enzo creeping in through the backdoor. Enzo stealthed his way to the end of the hallway before using his vampire speed to snap the nearest witch’s neck. Chaos erupted. In a blink, the supernatural factions were battling it out. 

 

Klaus quickly ripped the heart out of the witch who had been sentencing him to death seconds before. In the time it took him to snap another two necks, one of the witches had moved behind him and was raising her arm with a stake in hand. Caroline snapped her neck before she could.

 

Klaus turned in time to watch the body fall, “Thanks, Love,” he gave her a dark, dimpled smirk.

 

_ “God save the King,”  _ she quipped.

 

He stared at her slack jawed for a moment before they were pulled back into the fight. She spied a witch giving Enzo an aneurysm a few yards away, and threw a bottle at the man’s head. It broke on impact, and caused a large gash. Enzo dug into the witch’s neck as he groaned in agony. Within minutes, the witches all lay dead on the dirty bar floor. 

 

Enzo was humming ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead’ while Caroline tried in vain to wipe the blood off her skin with napkins when Klaus found her again. 

 

“Allow me to properly introduce myself. I’m Klaus,” he held out his hand.

 

Caroline gripped it with her own, shaking it gently, “Caroline.”

 

Klaus turned her hand over, and leaned down to kiss the back of her hand before releasing it. They held each other’s gaze, smiling at one another.

 

“I’m Enzo,” her friend interrupted, thrusting out his hand, and grabbing Klaus’s in a firm shake. Klaus barely spared him a glance before returning his attention to Caroline.

 

“What? No kiss for me?” Enzo questioned in feigned offense like the troll he was.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos if you liked this story. Comments make my day, so if you have a second please leave a few words.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnvKv70Z4Uw
> 
> My tumblr updates are sporadic and mostly food, fandom, and quotes. Feel free to come say hi :)  
> https://breakfasttako.tumblr.com/
> 
> November word count: 4,194


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